Vancouver mother arrested after 3-year-old overdoses on meth

Vancouver police arrested a 27-year-old woman Thursday night after they say her 3-year-old child overdosed on methamphetamine.

Vancouver police and Vancouver fire medical personnel responded about 8 p.m. to an apartment in the 4000 block of Northeast 109th Street after 911 received calls that a child had overdosed. The child’s grandmother had administered two doses of Narcan to get the child breathing again, according to a police news release.

When officers arrived, the mother had the child in a bedroom and was refusing to let medical personnel inside. Police forced their way into the room and handed the child off to medical responders, the news release states.

The child was taken to a hospital for urgent medical treatment, Vancouver police said.

When police searched the mother, identified as Summer Justice Ward, they found a plastic bag containing a white powdered substance and foil hidden in her clothing. The powder field tested positive for methamphetamine, the department said.

The 3-year-old and Ward’s other child, a 2-year-old, were placed in protective custody, according to the news release.

Ward was booked into the Clark County Jail on suspicion of endangerment with a controlled substance, second-degree criminal mistreatment, resisting arrest, obstructing a law enforcement officer and possession of a controlled substance.

Vancouver police Child Abuse Unit detectives are continuing to investigate.

The department said this was the second overdose call Vancouver police responded to Thursday involving a small child who’d consumed drugs.